1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods for authenticating electronic documents, and in particular to a method that registers proof of the exact content of electronic documents and provides for the establishment of an evidence trail.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electronic documents such as E-mail have changed the face of commerce. The wide-spread use of electronic documents has increased the pace of commerce and is itself a product of the need to respond quickly to the demands of the marketplace. Electronic communication has replaced paper documents in many transactions. However, the move away from paper documentation to the fast-moving world of electronic documents has come at a price.
As presently configured, electronic documents lack the accountability provided by paper documents. For example, a paper contract bearing signatures provides a vastly greater level of accountability than an E-mail document. Signatures can be verified, providing for a level of non-repudiation which is not available with electronic documents. If one's signature is on a contract, it is difficult to say one was not involved in an agreement.
With E-mail, there are no signatures. Additionally, neither party has proof that the other individual received the E-mail in question, nor does either party have proof of the contents of the E-mail message. For these reasons, electronic documents cannot be trusted for evidentiary purposes.
There have been attempts to provide accountability for electronic documents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,800, Hoffmann et al., concerns a process intended to establish whether data transmitted to a recipient has been altered or illicitly introduced. This invention only provides a small part of the goal of making electronic documents as secure and accountable as paper documents. The method provides no means for providing the sender with proof that the intended recipient received the document, nor does the method provide for an evidence trail in the event of a dispute between sender and recipient over message content and timing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,809, Le Corre et al., is a method that provides non-repudiation for fax senders and recipients. While this invention does provide a measure of non-repudiation, it is limited to faxes, requires special equipment, i.e., a secure fax machine, and provides proof only that a neutral third party sent a fax upon the request of the recipient. The recipient can still deny receipt of the fax or dispute the contents of the fax.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,268, Bisbee, goes further in the process of providing authentication and accountability for electronic documents. However, it requires users to have special equipment, PCM/CIA cards, and does little to protect the privacy of sender and recipient.
None of the above methods takes into account the interests of all parties concerned with authenticated electronic document transmission. With the present invention, there are four possible participants in an authenticated electronic document transmission, namely the sender, the recipient, a neutral third party, and the government. Each party must have its requirements taken into account for an authentication method to be accepted for wide-spread use.